Highlights

Angel HazeClassick [mixtape]

Hot off a very busy and successful set of showcases at the 2012 CMJ Marathon, Angel Haze has released her new mixtape Classick, continuing to shatter our expectations. Although the 21-year-old Michigan MC generally sticks to confident, upbeat tracks, she lets down her guard on “Cleaning Out My Closet,” sharing the story of the sexual abuse she faced as a child over the same beat that unraveled Eminem years earlier. There are also impressive re-interpretations of Missy Eliott’s “Gossip Folks” and Lauryn Hill’s classic “Doo Wop (That Thing).”

“The Narcissist” [a cappella version]

Yesterday, Hype Williams’ Dean Blunt threw a couple new songs on SoundCloud, “Need 2 Let U Go” and “And I’ll Show You Heaven If U Let Me,” both of which are long gone. But thankfully, Denna Glass, fashion icon and makeup consultant for Marie Claire magazine, is blowin’ up our inbox again, this time with a link to an amazingly uncomfortable a cappella cover of “The Narcissist” by bathroom inhabitant Jstar Valentine (who in fact did an a cappella version of the same song at a higher pitch just two weeks ago). It’s painful to both watch and listen to. It’s also amazing.

Two other vids to spend your time with:

and

“The Narcissist” is off The Narcissist II mixtape, which will see a remixed/remastered version out November 26 on Hippos In Tanks/World Music. As Jstar put it: “Please go out the to support Dean Blunt.”

L I V I N

Every detail surrounding Vacation Dad’s new album, L I V I N, fits together perfectly. First of all, the album is called L I V I N, and it sounds like a live recording of a dance party on a Caribbean cruise. He even dropped the “G” in “LIVING,” because when you are relaxing this hard, who has time to be all uptight about spelling and pronunciation? Secondly, the album is accompanied by a 46-page photo album full of pictures from the last two years of Vacation Dad’s nearly non-stop touring around the world. And lastly, this band is called Vacation Dad. I mean I don’t know if this dude is a dad or not (probably not considering all of the touring), but I imagine there are already a hundred bands named Vacation, and even my dad relaxes pretty hard when he is on vacation.

Listen to it below, and soundtrack your holiday vacation by buying the whole package over at MJMJ Records. Let the relaxin’ begin.

“Eve”

Generally, Pig Destroyer’s music is the aural equivalent of mud wrestling — it’s murky, so murky that it’s impossible to discern what’s a riff and what’s an attack on your eardrums. And yet, despite being covered in filth, it’s got a certain kind of sex appeal to it. “Eve,” one-nineteenth of the aural onslaught that is their new LP Bookburner, is a duet with Katherine Katz of Agoraphobic Nosebleed fame, and it’s got enough sexual tension to make a Twilight movie look weak. Never has the original sin sounded so loud.

Tension in a Field of Nothing [excerpt]

As if we needed more from two of the most prolific of experimental musicians… Hang on, that came out all wrong. What I meant to say is this: despite the fact that each of these artists have released more music than any of us possibly have time to hear in our lifetimes… Oof. How do I frame this so you’ll be excited about another release from Derek Rogers and Sparkling Wide Pressure, a pair of musicos who together have authored hundreds of releases over the past couple of years? Maybe I’m putting too much pressure on myself (no pun intended… unless you’re laughing). After all, apparently enough people have already gotten excited about it since the tape has sold out, released just shy of two months ago. One edge this split has: this is old material. Shelved for two years for who knows what reason, the fine folks at No Kings have decided this music worthy of your aural attention. Not only does the excerpt stream below hint that these are two challenging and beautiful sides of music, but this is also a very cool look into these artists’ pasts, helpful in getting some kind of a grip on where each of their now highly developed and individual styles came from.

Take Rogers’ portion especially, which includes a very heavy Dead C psycho-psychedelia vibe I wouldn’t have expected knowing what he’s been up to this year. SWP’s side, meanwhile, stretches out a much denser and meandering drone than some of the more structured and composed works of the guitarist’s current output (check his Preservation CD or his wonderful tape on Fadeaway, both released earlier this year).

As I previously mentioned, this one’s all gone from the source, but check distros and with the artists individually for available copies.

“Need 2 Let U Go” / “And I’ll Show You Heaven If U Let Me”

In true Dean Blunt fashion, “And I’ll Show You Heaven If U Let Me” has already been taken down and replaced with a weird little number called “Need 2 Let U Go,” which features fragmented piano, floundering trumpet, and out-of-tune vocals. Listen here while you can:

Fresh off the reissue announcement of The Narcissist II, an excellent mixtape (TMT Review) released earlier this year by Dean Blunt (Hype Williams, Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland), comes a new track that’s a bit less ominous, less freaky than other Blunt-related songs. But “And I’ll Show You Heaven If U Let Me” is still decidedly fucked: the sweet, twinkling melody floating high above passively battles with a scuzzy guitar riff that barely knows what to do with itself with each iteration. The drums, meanwhile, sound like someone doing a soundcheck, as a quiet keyboard hums in the background, barely heard but certainly felt. Like the best of Blunt’s music, it’s hazy, aggressively sloppy, and ends before you know it.

The remixed/remastered version of The Narcissist II is out November 26 on Hippos In Tanks/World Music. There’s no release date set for its follow up, The Narcissist III, so you might as well re-spin Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland’s Black Is Beautiful (TMT Review) before you finalize that geeky year-end list of yours.